"Hey! What kind of look is that!"
Perhaps unnerved by Gu Qingfeng's lecherous stare, Ouyang Ye instinctively hugged her arms and took a step back, glaring at him angrily as she declared sternly, "I warn you, if you have any improper thoughts, this Grandaunt will kill you immediately! Don't think I don't dare to kill!"
"Improper thoughts?"
Gu Qingfeng leisurely lifted his wine gourd, took a small sip from its spout, and said with a smile, "I say, big sister, I was just looking at you. Where did your mind go? So young, yet your thoughts are so filthy. Could it be you think I'd take advantage of this opportunity to get fresh with you?"
"You wouldn't dare!"
Ouyang Ye was furious. Radiance flickered around her body, and her lovely face was filled with a murderous aura. While she loved treasure hunting and digging for relics, it was just a hobby. She would absolutely never sell herself out for such things.
Firstly, there was no need. Secondly, it was a matter of principle.
Her personality was passionate and unrestrained, but that was limited to among friends. The furthest she went with strangers was cracking a joke. That was her bottom line, her principle. Just as she said, it wasn't that she didn't dare to kill, but that she didn't want to. If her bottom line was truly crossed, she would not hesitate to start killing.
Seeing the murderous intent in Ouyang Ye's eyes, Gu Qingfeng shook his head slightly in surprise. Back then, he had merely opened the little girl's clothes to look at the mysterious tattoo on her chest, and she had wanted to fight and kill him. Naturally, he knew what kind of temperament this girl had. He chuckled, "Do you really want the treasure inside the Cave Dwelling's Eye?"
"What if I do?"
Seeing that Gu Qingfeng wasn't pushing his luck, Ouyang Ye's anger gradually subsided. "Hurry up and state your demand. If this Grandaunt can do it, I'll definitely help you."
"My demand..." Gu Qingfeng rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, but couldn't think of anything good. He said, "How about this: I can't think of anything right now. You owe me one. I'll tell you when I think of it."
"That works?"
Ouyang Ye had never heard of someone making a demand like that.
"Why not?"
"Aren't you afraid I'll grab the treasure inside the Cave Dwelling's Eye and run?"
"As the old saying goes, the monk can run, but can the temple run too?" Gu Qingfeng laughed. "Besides, you're so famous, known as the Princess of Great Nature. Finding you won't be hard."
"I didn't expect you to be quite the shrewd calculator."
Ouyang Ye thought about it. Trading a future favor for the treasure of the Cave Dwelling's Eye—this deal seemed profitable for her. But could this guy's demand be excessive?
Worried, the little girl laid down three rules with Gu Qingfeng: the demand couldn't be excessive, couldn't cross her principled bottom line. If she could do it, she definitely would. If she couldn't, she'd find a way.
Gu Qingfeng just shrugged indifferently, indicating he was fine with that.
After reaching an agreement, Ouyang Ye was in high spirits. "Quick, tell me, how do we enter the Cave Dwelling's Eye?"
"Wait."
"Wait here?"
"That's right, right here."
"And then?"
"And then? When the Cave Dwelling's Eye opens, we just go right in."
"It's that simple?"
"What else did you think?"
Ouyang Ye was a bit skeptical. Under her questioning, Gu Qingfeng didn't hide anything and explained the so-called Nine Palaces Method. But to Ouyang Ye, this stuff was like a book from heaven—Nine Palaces Method, palace position shifts, all messy and headache-inducing.
Ouyang Ye didn't know whether to believe him, but remembering the mural outside earlier, she felt this guy was relatively trustworthy.
Since they were waiting, they'd wait.
After waiting a while, Ouyang Ye grew bored. "Hey, since you know who I am, but I still don't know your name."
"Me?" Gu Qingfeng adjusted his erhu and said leisurely, "My name is Lao Jiu."
"Lao Jiu? What kind of name is that?"
"I'm an orphan, no father, no mother, so naturally no surname. I was adopted by a kind family when I was little. They had eight children total. I was the ninth, so I was called Lao Jiu."
Gu Qingfeng wasn't lying. He truly was an orphan, truly had no parents, and was indeed adopted by a kind family when young. Moreover, Lao Jiu really was his childhood nickname. Unfortunately, when he was six years old, his adoptive parents and their family mysteriously disappeared. Truly mysteriously, vanishing without any warning.
Gu Qingfeng had tried to find them, searching for a long time, but never could. Even now, he didn't know why his adoptive family had mysteriously vanished.
As for his previous name, Gu Tianlang, that was given to him by a fortune-teller.
"Pfft, 'Lao Jiu' my foot. If you don't want to say, forget it. Who cares to know your name anyway."
Clearly, Ouyang Ye didn't believe him.
"It's just a name. Why would I lie to you?"
"Then tell me, what are you? Really a Rogue Cultivator?"
"What? Doesn't it look like it?"
"As if this Grandaunt has never seen a Rogue Cultivator before. Rogue Cultivators aren't like you. In this world, most Rogue Cultivators are down-and-out drifters, down-and-out drifters, mostly cultivators who violated sect rules and were expelled from their sects."
"You said 'most.' I'm part of that small minority. I dislike being bound, prefer a life without constraints. Didn't join a sect, so isn't that a Rogue Cultivator?"
Gu Qingfeng's words left Ouyang Ye unable to refute, because she knew there indeed was a small minority of people who couldn't stand sect rules and chose a free, wandering life, making the world their home. Such people might not be many, but that didn't mean they didn't exist. Could it be this guy before her was truly a free-spirited Rogue Cultivator?
Ouyang Ye furrowed her brows, studying Gu Qingfeng carefully. She found this guy truly lacked the innate nobility of someone from a great family, and also lacked the obvious arrogance of someone from a major sect. What he had was a kind of casualness, his speech and demeanor exuding a carefree unfettered.
If he were from a great family or major sect, he definitely wouldn't be leaning against a wall, sitting casually on a meditation cushion, playing such a shabby Erhu.
Thinking this, Ouyang Ye suddenly believed this guy might really be that kind of free-spirited Rogue Cultivator.
"Your cultivation is only Golden Core, right? How dare you barge into this Cave Dwelling alone? Aren't you afraid of danger?"
"Your cultivation isn't high either, just Nascent Soul, one realm above me. You're not afraid, why should I be?"
Ouyang Ye rolled her eyes at him and said very confidently, "This Grandaunt's cultivation may only be Nascent Soul, but I have a Secret Magical Treasure. Even facing a Nascent Soul Daozun, I wouldn't fear."
"You have a Secret Magical Treasure. Could it be I don't?"
Hearing 'Secret Magical Treasure,' Ouyang Ye's interest was immediately piqued. Blinking her big eyes, she asked curiously, "What Secret Magical Treasure do you have?"
"Since it's a Secret Magical Treasure, how could I tell you?"
"Stingy!"